Lou Reed

Lou Reed got his start in the ‘60s fronting the Velvet Underground, the influential noise-rock band that was a commercial bomb but has since become one of rock’s most important groups. After making four terrific albums with the band, Reed launched a solo career in the ‘70s that yielded two classics: 1972’s ‘Transformer’ (produced by pal David Bowie) and the following year’s ‘Berlin,’ a difficult but rewarding song cycle – a pattern Reed would follow over the years. He hasn’t always made the most listener-friendly music (despite scoring a Top 20 hit with ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ in 1972), angering and frustrating fans along the way: 1975’s ‘Metal Machine Music’ is often named one of the worst records ever made by a major artist, and Reed’s 2011 collaboration with Metallica, ‘Lulu,’ didn’t fare much better. But few artists have explored the sonic and lyrical territories Reed has braved for almost 50 years.